VOLUME SIX (2020): ARCHIVES ON FIRE

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Jessica Baron, "after Neo Rauch"

Jessica Baron

These poems were first accepted for publication with Parcel
and they appear simultaneously—there and here—with permission from the author and the editors.

Vines growing from the mouth
—after Neo Rauch


Pray to the snails and snakes, to things that slither,
pray to the new neon lights marking here,

here, HERE: pray to the television.
Beyond the hill, tanks fire, although just

expending their red shells in the dirt,
so poisonous with a touch we could die

in the grass near our feet, these mushrooms.
Let’s spin our tops anyway.

Let’s play under the eves of this green house,
under birch and bark, under branch and leaf

on the delicate edge of destruction.
The house says nothing, yet makes effort in

blank balloons the length of itself. It’s tired
of parking lots, of carnival rides, tired

of being behind the game, trailing
all action undertaken. Look inside me,

it begs for our attention, waiting
behind curtains, I will reveal my secrets.

Let’s spin our tops anyway;
with the paper dolls’ tales severed, their clothes

no longer stay on bodies, no longer
can they remain upright, interact

with one another, without blowing down.

_____

Some peaches or an orange
—after Neo Rauch


In the clouds, there’s another ocean, more
blue, more strange. If you’re adept and find

food, you might be able to climb a ladder
to the beat of music, a marching band

or electronic drum-kit rhythm.
You won’t need it, leave the music behind,

there at the top. If you’ve managed to climb
carrying in hand already-cut fruit,

there is an abandoned tree, sky on all
sides. Your task will be to climb said tree,

with footholds uneven, its branches far
apart. At the top, be able, you’ll make it

to jump right in, but vault up and out
as between city buildings separated

by a small alleyway. I tell you,
the reward of the water will be worth

all this. Tides never go out, and one
never tires of treading. You can float there

with your sliced fruit, eat section by section
in haze, sugar perfectly balanced.

_____

Seasonally lit
—after Neo Rauch

When reindeer begin coming out sewer
grates, mythical beasts pull the plow,

time has come to re-examine the sky.
A bit of light peeks, look for cracks made

out of helium, I was made to burn.
Handle me with care when you put me

on the grill. I’ll float to a place you can-
not touch my masked inside, water wide

this red behind the silos, trees bare
above the wheat, full of cardboard and tape.

If we clear the medicine cabinet,
they’ll be no more tools. The beaver we keep

in the lightbox will be abandoned, half
man, dinosaur. So much trouble finding

food tall enough to reach its mouth upright.
Small fires rage in distances, he

runs as fast as he can waddle his large
bottom, this red rock under the dirt

calling for an eventual demise.
Don’t touch the snowman, fucker, this chalet

our land of children and snow, red rage, stop
scaring all these customers back through this

turnstile. Now, go with these squash down at the
farmstand, shape of evergreens. Get going

four different colors, someone decorated
for the holiday season: orange, green,

yellow, then blue from the base moving up.
Just try cutting that open to fit all

into the oven, taking care not to mix
those multicolored seeds, our squash insides.

_____

Jessica Baron currently teaches and studies poetry and writing in Fort Collins, Colorado at Colorado State University. She is also a professional actor and performs in the summers at the Creede Repertory Theatre in Creede, Colorado. She received a BFA in Theatre Studies from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

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